Tom Holland on passing “the baton” of Spider-Man and why he won’t talk about his relationship with Zendaya

In a chat with The Hollywood Reporter, The Crowded Room star Tom Holland talked about his superhero success, and pondered hanging up his web-shooters once and for all.

The actor explained that before the writers strike, he, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and Spider-Man movie producer Amy Pascal batted around ideas for a fourth stand-alone adventure as Peter Parker, following the blockbuster success of 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home.

“The first few meetings were about, ‘Why would we do this again?'” Holland explains. “And I think we found the reason why. I’m really, really happy with where we’re at.”

However, the 27-year-old admits, “But I’m also a little apprehensive about it. There’s a bit of a stigma about the fourth one in all franchises. I feel like we hit a home run with our first franchise and there’s a part of me that wants to walk away with my head held high and pass the baton to the next lucky kid that gets to bring this character to life.”

Holland reiterated how close he got with his fellow Spider-Men and No Way Home co-stars Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield. “Myself, Andrew, Tobey — we have this amazing bond as three people who have been through something that is so unique that we really are like brothers. We have a great group chat and we catch up … It’s called the Spider-Boys.”

What do they talk about? “Spider-Man stuff,” he says.

What he wouldn’t expound upon was his relationship with Zendaya. “Our relationship is something that we are incredibly protective of and we want to keep as sacred as possible,” he explains. “We don’t think that we owe it to anyone, it’s our thing, and it has nothing to do with our careers.”